Chapter 26 - Ashes and Alibis
The world dissolved into blinding white flash-bangs and the concussive roar of tactical entry teams screaming commands over one another.
"ON THE GROUND! DOWN! DOWN! DROP THE WEAPON!"
"I have Lily! Don't shoot! She's seven!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, flattening myself over my daughter as the sharp sting of CS gas caught the back of my throat. Lily shrieked in sheer terror, burying her face into my chest, her small body convulsing with sobs.
Ryan was on his knees with his hands spread wide above his head, yelling clearly, "Non-combatant! Mother and child in the corner! Mother and child!"
Through the billowing white smoke, I expected to see Victoria Vance forced against the wall in zip-ties. I expected to see federal agents pinning her expensive coat against the salt-encrusted concrete.
Instead, when two tactical operators in black ballistic vests closed in on Victoria, their assault rifles didn't raise to her chest. They formed a tight defensive diamond around her.
One of the operators—a tall man with silver insignia on his shoulder—lowered his weapon, reached down, and gave Victoria an immediate nod of acknowledgment.
"Area secure, Senatorial Liaison," the agent said crisply into his shoulder mic. "Primary asset intact. Detain the hostiles."
I froze, the air leaving my lungs in a stunned gasp.
"Wait!" Ryan shouted, lunging forward on his knees before a heavy combat boot slammed down hard across his shoulder blades, driving him flat into the solvent-soaked floorboards. "She fired the shot! She shot Marcus! Look at the gun!"
"Shut your mouth!" a federal officer barked, wrenching Ryan’s arms behind his back with the sharp, plastic zip of high-tensile cuffs.
Victoria stood within the armed cordon, calmly dabbing a small drop of condensation from her lapel with a silk handkerchief. She didn't look at Marcus, who was groaning in agony on the floor as two field medics aggressively cut open his shirt to pack the bullet wound in his shoulder.
Instead, Victoria walked straight toward me, flanked by two tactical officers who kept their weapons at low-ready, pointed directly at the floor inches from my knees.
"Senator Vance requested direct federal intervention regarding the illegal occupation of this maritime facility," the team lead announced to the room, his voice clinical, amplified through a throat mic. "We have a signed emergency custodial and evidentiary warrant issued by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals."
"Custodial?" I choked out, wrapping both arms around Lily with white-knuckled desperation. "No! No! She is my daughter! Marcus kidnapped us! He locked us in the vault!"
Victoria stopped two feet from me. She looked down at Lily’s shuddering back, her expression masking any hint of malice with a facade of deep, maternal sorrow.
"Sarah," Victoria said, loud enough for every body-worn camera in the room to capture her words clearly. "Look at what you’ve brought this poor child into. Running with convicted felons, hiding out in abandoned industrial drug harbors, putting her directly in the line of crossfire between smuggling syndicates. Thomas would be turning in his grave."
"You lying bitch," I snarled, every ounce of fear in my body turning into pure, molten venom. "You set this up! You paid Marcus! You tried to burn us alive!"
"Marcus is a rogue employee who will face the full weight of federal prosecution," Victoria said smoothly, never blinking. "And as for Lily... the Department of Social Services and the Vance Family Trust have obtained temporary emergency guardianship pending your psychological evaluation and federal grand jury testimony."
"NO!" I screamed, lunging forward, but two pairs of heavy gloved hands seized my shoulders from behind, yanking me violently backward onto the floor.
"MAMA!" Lily’s scream pierced through the damp air, a sound so primal and shredded with agony it felt like a knife dragging through my chest.
A female social worker wearing a windbreaker stepped out from behind the tactical line. She leaned down, peeling Lily’s tiny hands away from my coat.
"MAMA! DON'T LET THEM TAKE ME! MAMA!"
"LILY! LILY, LOOK AT ME!" I fought against the two agents with everything I had, thrashing, kicking, biting at the Kevlar sleeves pinning my arms. "DON'T YOU TOUCH HER! DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HER!"
"Subject is resisting! Restrain her!"
May you like
A zip-tie bit savagely into my wrists, ratcheting tight until the plastic cut into my skin. Lily was lifted into the arms of the female agent, her legs kicking wildly, her purple sneakers flying off and landing in the wet muck beside Marcus's blood.
Outside, the heavy diesel engine of a second tactical transport revved to life. Through the broken wood, I saw an agent walking toward the bed of Marcus's truck. He reached over the tailgate, took Lily’s bright purple bike by the handlebars, and hoisted it into the back of an unmarked black SUV. The white streamers whipped wildly in the salt gale, catching the flashing red emergency lights, before the rear hatch slammed shut, cutting them from view.
